By now you’ve probably read one (or both) of the posts which recently posted on my blog. If you haven’t, go ahead and scroll down a bit. You’ll know which ones I’m talking about. 🙂

You’ll also notice that I’ve closed comments on both posts. If anyone has anything to say, I’d like them to appear here rather than on one of the partisan posts.

You may be wondering why I would write two pieces about a highly controversial issue in this way — including some happy fun name-calling at the end. It’s been an interesting week for me reading the news: while I do have my own views on abortion and reproductive rights, I felt inundated by such polarization on both sides of the proverbial aisle. It made me realize (especially after my post from a few days ago where I expressed my own belief system) that I — and many of us — are quite moderate in our beliefs, not necessarily carrying the partisan membership card through thick and thin. And that’s okay.

One of my good friends from a recent blogging community happens to be pro-life. She’s also a lesbian. And Pagan. When she was volunteering as a peer-educator for the pro-life movement, she was amazed at the way she was shunned because of her diversity in different areas of her own personal identity. She felt that it was a stupid move to push her away — as there likely are many who share her beliefs on abortion who might not fit a perceived cookie-cutter version of the stereotype.

I’ve met gay Republicans. Muslim supporters of Israel. Atheists who defend the Pledge of Allegiance. Not everyone has to fit into a specific mold. I suppose it’s what makes us all individuals. A nation of individuals. (And yes — in typical Life of Brian fashion, I expect one of you to call out “I’m not!”)

So — please take the previous two blog entries in the context in which they were written. Both sides have a lot of good points. Both sides have their fringe whackjobs. And we have a lot more in common than many may think.

It was reported today that former North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms died. He was 84.

I won’t spend time filling this space with substantiation that Helms was a crazy, racist homophobe. You can find many other blogs which will do this. I won’t even make any allusions to the subliminal messages alluded to have been included in his 1990 re-election campaign. You can do your own Google searches about that.

I will, however, recommend the 1998 documentary film Dear Jesse created by Tim Kirkland, an openly gay male from North Carolina who was trying to find some common ground with the longtime senator. It’s really quite a powerful film — especially a moment in it where the filmmaker interviews an openly gay visitor to a North Carolina college: a man named Matthew Shepard. (The filn was post-produced and released after Shepard’s murder.)

And I will recount one memory of living in North Carolina: it was a day which held great importance for me in November of 1996. Instead of heading right to work, I awoke earlier than usual and went to a local elementary school. I waited on line and was given a piece of paper and a thick, black magic marker. I made some marks on the thick paper, folded it, and put it into a box on a table.

Yes, I voted in magic marker that year. Such was the voting process — where I voted for the re-election of President Clinton and, more importantly, for Harvey Gantt as my US Senator.

I was happy that Clinton won. I was disappointed that Gantt didn’t. But I had realized that both elections were inevitable early on. Nonetheless, it was still a milestone for me. A proud moment in my life.

Here in “Shiny’s Political Corner” you’ll see a side of me that you don’t usually get to see on this blog. I prefer to think of myself as an entertainment and, perhaps, humor blogger. I don’t really think I have a specific theme to my blogs, but I’d like to feel that they delve on the lighter side of life and that people see them accordingly. Nonetheless, there can also be a serious side of Shiny, and I hope people are okay seeing this facet in a blog post.

You may be wondering: why blog politically if the blogosphere is already oversaturated with those of all opinions and stances who are far better educated on the issues than I? Where are my credentials to make a statement on the politics of a candidate, you may ask? Do I have any educational background which make my political opinions noteworthy? I must be honest and tell you that I may not have as many credentials as those who primarily blog politically, but I still feel validated in occasional political blog entries such as this one because I’ve experienced politics simply by living life as a member of a society.

After all, I find it quite natural for everyone — be it someone who usually shows apathy towards government in general to those who follow it intensely (as we find quite a few of the latter living so close to the Nation’s Capital) — to be intrigued at the process in which we create rules and norms of a society as well as, in our type of representative political body, selecting folks whom we feel will stand up for the values and mores we hold dear. Be it a nationwide election or something which remains solely on the very localized level, I think people like to know that there is some higher-level mechanism which exists to keep order in a potential chaos of social interaction.

And that’s why I feel like my opinion on subjects political can be stated here on my blog, if occasionally. I understand that many of you steer clear from mixing politics and your own lighter-fare blogs for very valid reasons. (In fact, they may be similar reasons that I’ve been using for quite a while,) All I ask is that you read my political blog entries with an open mind, knowing that you need not agree with me, but that my opinion may be as valid as yours.

It may come as no surprise to many of you that my political leanings are all over the place: there are many issues on which I side with the left, many on which I lean to the right, and many which have such radical ideas that they don’t fit with either camp. It’s important that you don’t assume a political affiliation based on a political point of view expressed in the vacuum of a single, political blog post. I urge you not to pigeonhole me into a specific construct of a single political party based on statements I make when I’m writing with my “Shiny’s Political Corner” hat on.

Also — I welcome and encourage comments and dialogue on these blogs as I do with all of my other blog posts. All I ask is that you treat other commenters and me with respect, regardless of political affiliation or opinion. It’s really the give and take of the forum of blogging which makes these discussions valuable. Furthermore, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t use my comments as a place for you to grandstand a specific political stance on your proverbial soapbox. I’m not a fan of comment moderation or editing, but if things get out of hand I’ll have to resort to doing so. Please — let’s not let it get to that point.

So — now that we have this introductory disclaimer out of the way, please allow me to wax political for a few moments as I present: